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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · coach · wax · pitch · chest · stem

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. cell — a phone
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cell — in biology
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. chest — a box

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com